How Deepika Padukone, star of Padmaavat, Chhapaak and Om Shanti Om, is battling Bollywood’s gender pay gap – and spending her fortune in style
She has luxury cars from Audi, BMW and Mercedes in the garage of her US$2 million home in Mumbai’s upmarket Prabhadevi district, and chooses from a swoon-worthy handbag collection of Gucci, Chanel, Celine and Hermès – so how did the 34-year-old superstar get there?
With US$40 million in the bank, Deepika Padukone is one of the wealthiest celebrities in India – but how did she get so rich? And how does she spend it?
It seems the Bollywood superstar loves her luxury wheels and designer handbags, but Padukone also clearly knows how to demand that she’s paid what she’s worth.
The long-legged beauty recently made headlines by charging a whopping 20 crore fee (US$2.7 million) for her upcoming, currently untitled film with Baahubali actor, Prabhas – the highest of any Indian actress on record. As Bollywood still suffers from a marked gender pay disparity, Padukone has emerged as the poster girl for the equal pay movement, charging a gargantuan sum on par with her bankable fame, and in the same ballpark as all but the very biggest male stars.
And why wouldn’t she? From consecutive hit films and high-end endorsement deals to carving a niche in Hollywood, Padukone has delivered the goods and now boasts a predicted net worth of US$40 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Copenhagen-born, she started out as a model, getting her big break in 2007’s Om Shanti Om, which she did for free stating that she was “grateful for the fortunate start”.
Since then she has starred in hit titles like Love Aaj Kal (2009), Cocktail (2012), Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), Happy New Year (2014) and Bajirao Mastani (2015).